5 December, 2018 07:11 | Arizona Dept. |

Good morning Legionnaires and veterans advocates, in the present day is Wednesday, December 5, 2018 which is Worldwide Ninja Day, Worldwide Volunteer Day, Bathtub Celebration Day and Repeal Day.This Day in Historical past:

1945: At 2:10 p.m., 5 U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour coaching mission. Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for 120 miles, north for 73 miles, after which again over a last 120-mile leg that may return them to the naval base. They by no means returned

1933: The 21st Modification to the U.S. Structure is ratified, repealing the 18th Modification and bringing an finish to the period of nationwide prohibition of alcohol in America. At 5:32 p.m. EST, Utah turned the 36th state to ratify the modification, attaining the requisite three-fourths majority of states’ approval. Pennsylvania and Ohio had ratified it earlier within the day.

1978: In an effort to prop up an unpopular pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union indicators a “friendship treaty” with the Afghan authorities agreeing to offer financial and army help. The treaty moved the Russians one other step nearer to their disastrous involvement within the Afghan civil conflict between the Soviet-supported communist authorities and the Muslim rebels, the Mujahideen, which formally started in 1979.

1970: A North Vietnamese newspaper declares that the nation won’t be intimidated by U.S. bombing threats. Earlier within the week, U.S. Secretary of Protection Melvin Laird had warned that the U.S. would provoke new bombing raids on North Vietnam if the communists continued to fireside on unarmed reconnaissance plane flying over their air area. Responding to Laird’s threats, North Vietnamese officers declared that any U.S. reconnaissance planes that flew over North Vietnam can be fired upon. This declaration implied that North Vietnam wouldn’t be pressured into concessions, and was ready to proceed the warfare whatever the value.

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Washington Examiner: US reconfigures border troops in response to shifting caravan routesby Anna Giaritelli| December 05, 2018 12:00 AMThe Trump administration is reconfiguring and barely scaling again the deployment of U.S. troops and personnel on the border in response to the shifting place of migrants making an attempt to cross into the U.S., based on a number of Homeland Safety and Protection officers.Supplementary DOD and DHS forces have declined about 10 and 20 %, respectively, within the final week. Remaining help is being moved to areas the place caravans have settled in throughout the border from western Arizona and west type there towards San Diego.“We are moving hundreds of additional CBP personnel into place to ensure our ability to safely address multiple potential contingencies, at and between the Southern California ports of entry,” a CBP spokesperson wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner Tuesday.The first caravan group that left northern Central America in October did not travel the shortest route from southern Mexico to the U.S., which is 1,100 miles from the Guatemala-Mexico border to South Texas, near McAllen and Brownsville. Instead, they traveled up into Mexico City then went west to Tijuana, a total of about 2,500 miles.U.S. Border Patrol is comprised of nearly 20,000 agents based at the Canadian and Mexican borders. In November, it pulled 870 agents from other parts of the country to help at areas of concern along the southern border it believed needed reinforcing ahead of the caravan’s arrival last month.U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the patrol’s parent agency, sent 560 officers as reinforcements to the front lines, which were already stretched thin from illegal immigration levels that have skyrocketed from 16,000 apprehensions per month in April 2017 to more than 50,000 in October.Those 1,430 combined CBP forces sent to Southern California and Arizona have dropped, according to figures provided Tuesday evening.Of the 870 Border Patrol agents originally deployed, 460 remain in the field. However, CBP sent an additional 90 personnel on top of the 560 already at the border.The Pentagon has also pulled back approximately 500 active-duty troops — nearly 10 percent of the 5,900 total that had been reported deployed last week.As of Tuesday, 5,400 troops are stationed at the border, including 1,600 in Texas, 600 at the operation’s Texas headquarters, 1,400 in Arizona, and 1,800 in California, according to a spokesperson for U.S. Army North’s Joint Forces Land Component Command.About 300 of the California troops were recently moved from Texas and Arizona to California because 6,000 members of the caravan have temporarily settled in Tijuana, just over the border from the Golden State.Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday approved extending the deployment of active-duty troops from Dec. 15 through the end of January.The total number of people migrating as part of multiple caravans from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras has fluctuated in recent weeks as more than 3,200 dropped off to apply for asylum in Mexico instead of going onto the U.S.Following President Trump’s order to bar the group from illegally entering the country, the Pentagon in October approved a DHS request to deploy additional troops to the southern border.Defense News: Mattis, GOP hawks warn Trump against defense cuts at White House meetingBy:Joe Gould 13 hours ago to EmailShare to MoreWASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and two top Republican lawmakers met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday to argue against a $33 billion budget cut he’s considering for the military. Their strategy was to link budget problems to Trump’s sometime-foil, President Barack Obama.Mattis, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry held the meeting to discuss the administration’s 2020 budget submission. News of the plans to meet were first reported by The Washington Post.“I had a frank and productive conversation about our national security goals with the President,” Inhofe said in a statement. “We share a commitment to undoing the damage left behind by President Obama and to rebuilding our military to achieve the National Defense Strategy.“I am confident from the meeting that the President is determined to keep our nation strong and the military adequately funded. I look forward to continuing to work with President Trump and Vice President Pence to achieve these shared goals.”A HASC aide stated equally that individuals in Tuesday’s assembly, “reviewed the injury finished to the army through the Obama Administration. President Trump has been holding his promise to restore that injury and restore our power. The individuals consider we proceed to make progress and are nonetheless on monitor to rebuild the army.”The assembly seemed to be an end-run across the White Home Workplace of Administration and Finances. Professional-defense Republicans have been lobbying the president because the finances workplace ordered the Pentagon to create a $700 billion protection finances (along with a $733 billion price range it had beforehand deliberate) as a part of plans for all departments throughout the federal authorities to chop their deliberate budgets by 5 %.The lawmakers appealed to Trump by suggesting Obama was liable for suboptimal protection budgets, although its a sophisticated declare as a result of Obama was constrained by the bipartisan 2011 Finances Management Act’s caps on discretionary spending, and the chain of last-minute price range offers the BCA has spawned.Slicing the army might appear to be a reversal for Trump, who accused Obama of leaving the army “depleted,” campaigned to “rebuild the military” and championed hard-won protection spending will increase for 2018 and 2019. Trump appeared to double downon a minimize for FY20 with an ambiguous tweet Monday that referred to as the $716 billion protection price range he signed for 2018, “Crazy!”Final week, Inhofe and Thornberry argued in a Wall Road Journal op-ed that a smaller protection finances gained’t have a serious impression on fixing the nationwide deficit however could have a crippling impact on army gear purchases and end-strength.On Saturday, Mattis informed the viewers on the Reagan Nationwide Protection Discussion board that main finances cuts “would be a dangerous disservice to our troops and the American people they serve and protect” — and signaled he would by lobbying the president.“I would just tell you that the issue is in play, and I’ll give my advice to the president. I owe him the courtesy of that in private before I speak about it in public,” Mattis said.“It’s up to me to make the logical argument about what the president’s submission should look like to the Office of Management and Budget, to the Congress … at that point, the Congress will take our input on board.”In the era of budget caps, defense hawks in Congress have had to navigate GOP fiscal hawks and Democrats seeking parity between defense and non-defense spending. They will have an uphill battle as HASC ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. — who has argued for cutting defense spending — is expected to replace Thornberry as chairman next year.Asked earlier in the day about the planned White House huddle, Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a senior appropriator, said the defense budget cannot be discussed in isolation. That’s because easing BCA caps have required high-level negotiations between the president and congressional leaders from both parties.“There has to be a broader conversation about the whole budget, simply from the standpoint of national security, not just defense,” stated Reed, of Rhode Island. “It’s the State Department, the FBI. Until there’s a conversation between leadership and the White House about the top-line for everything, we’re not being efficient and effective.”Army Occasions: Crowds honor Bush for lengthy service, from struggle to White HomeBy: Calvin Woodward, The Related Press , Laurie Kellman, The Related Press , and Ashraf Khalil, The Related Press 10 hours in the past

AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to EmailShare to Google+Share to Extra119WASHINGTON — Troopers, residents in wheelchairs and lengthy strains of others on foot wound by means of the hushed Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday to view George H.W. Bush’s casket and keep in mind a president whose legacy included World Warfare II army service and a landmark regulation affirming the rights of the disabled. Bob Dole, a compatriot in conflict, peace and political wrestle, steadied himself out of his wheelchair and saluted his previous good friend and one-time rival.As at notable moments in his life, Bush introduced collectively Republicans and Democrats in his demise, and never solely the VIPs.Members of the general public who by no means voted for the person waited in the identical lengthy strains as the remaining, testifying that Bush possessed the dignity and beauty that deserved to be remembered by their presence on a chilly overcast day within the capital.“I’m just here to pay my respects,” stated Jane Hernandez, a retired doctor within the closely Democratic metropolis and suburbs. “I wasn’t the biggest fan of his presidency, but all in all he was a good sincere guy doing a really hard job as best he could.”Bush’s service canine, Sully, was delivered to the viewing, too — his major service these final months since Barbara Bush’s demise in April being to relaxation his head on her husband’s lap. Service canine are educated to try this.The CIA additionally honored Bush, the one spy chief to grow to be president, as three company administrators previous and current joined the general public within the viewing.Within the midst of the interval of mourning, first woman Melania Trump gave Laura Bush, one among her predecessors, a tour of vacation decorations on the White Home, a “sweet visit during this somber week,” as Mrs. Bush’s Instagram account put it. And the Trumps visited members of the Bush household on the Blair Home presidential guesthouse, the place they’re staying. Former President George W. Bush and his spouse greeted the Trumps outdoors earlier than everybody went in for the personal, 20-minute go to.Though President Donald Trump will attend Bush’s nationwide funeral service Wednesday, he isn’t among the many eulogists introduced by the Bush household, an inventory that features George W. Bush. The others are Alan Simpson, the previous senator and acerbic wit from Wyoming; Brian Mulroney, the previous Canadian prime minister who additionally gave a eulogy for Ronald Reagan; and presidential historian Jon Meacham.Individuals lined up earlier than daybreak to pay respects to the 41st president, a son and father of privilege now celebrated by on a regular basis residents for his widespread courtesies and depth of expertise.“He was so qualified, and I think he was just a decent man,” stated Sharon Terry, touring Washington with associates from an Indianapolis backyard membership. Stated her good friend Sue Miller, additionally in line for the viewing: “I actually think I underestimated him when he was in office. My opinion of him went up seeing how he conducted himself as a statesman afterward.”Fred Curry, one of many few African-People in line, is a registered Democrat from Hyattsville, Maryland, who voted for Bush in 1988, the election gained by the one-term president. “Honestly, I just liked him,” he stated. “He seemed like a sincere and decent man and you couldn’t argue with his qualifications.”Contained in the Capitol, Sully, the 2-year-old Labrador retriever assigned to Bush, sat by the casket within the firm of people that got here to commemorate Bush’s signing of the People with Disabilities Act, the 1990 regulation that, amongst its many provisions, required companies that prohibit pets to provide entry to service canine.“After Mrs. Bush’s death, general companionship was a big part of Sully’s job,” John Miller, president and CEO of America’s VetDogs, stated in a telephone interview. “One of the things that I think was important to the president was the rest command, where Sully would rest his head on the president’s lap.”The regulation was only one level of intersection for Bush and Dole, now 95, who was one among its main advocates within the Senate.They have been fellow World Struggle II veterans, Republican Get together leaders, fierce rivals for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination gained by Bush (“Stop lying about my record,” Dole snapped at Bush) and expert negotiators. Dole, an Military veteran hit by German machine gunfire in Italy, has gone by means of life with a disabled proper arm. Bush, a Navy pilot, survived a bail-out from his stricken plane over the Pacific and an earlier crash touchdown.On Tuesday Dole was helped out of his wheelchair by an aide, slowly steadied himself and saluted Bush together with his left hand, his chin quivering.Dignitaries had come ahead on Monday, too, to honor the Texan whose service to his nation prolonged three quarters of a century, from World Conflict II by way of his ultimate years as an advocate for volunteerism and aid for individuals displaced by pure catastrophe. Bush, 94, died Friday.Trump’s relationship with the Bush household has been tense. The present president has mocked the elder Bush for his “thousand points of light” name to volunteerism, challenged his son’s legacy as president and trounced “low-energy” Jeb Bush within the Republican presidential primaries en path to workplace. The late President Bush referred to as Trump a “blowhard.”These insults have been put aside, however the record of funeral service audio system marked the primary time since Lyndon Johnson’s demise in 1973 that a sitting president was not tapped to eulogize a late president. (Invoice Clinton did so for Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush eulogized Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.)In an invocation opening Monday night‘s ceremony, the U.S. House chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J Conroy, praised Bush’s dedication to public service, from Navy pilot to congressman, U.N. ambassador, envoy to China after which CIA director earlier than being elected vice chairman after which president.“Here lies a great man,” stated Rep. Paul Ryan, the Home speaker, and “a gentle soul. … His legacy is grace perfected.”After providers in Washington, Bush’s stays shall be returned to Houston to lie in repose at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church earlier than burial Thursday at his household plot on the presidential library grounds at Texas A&M College in School Station. His last resting place might be alongside Barbara Bush, his spouse of 73 years who died in April, and Robin Bush, the daughter they misplaced to leukemia in 1953 at age three.Trump has ordered the federal authorities closed Wednesday for a nationwide day of mourning. Flags on public buildings are flying at half-staff for 30 days.Bush’s dying reduces membership within the ex-presidents’ membership to 4: Jimmy Carter, Invoice Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.Related Press author Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Stripes: Frustration with Afghanistan stalemate boils over in congressional listening to

By CLAUDIA GRISALES | STARS AND STRIPES Revealed: December four, 2018

WASHINGTON — Echoing current remarks from a prime U.S. common, a number of senators expressed frustration Tuesday that the conflict in Afghanistan, now in its 18th yr, stays a stalemate for U.S. forces.

“We’ve been at it 17 years, 17 years is a long time,” a visibly annoyed Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., stated throughout a Senate Armed Providers Committee listening to. “What are we doing differently when it comes to the Afghan security forces that we haven’t done for 17 years while being focused on this?”

The feedback have been a part of a listening to for nominees to steer Central Command and Particular Operations Command, which just lately suffered a rash of servicemember deaths. Final week, two Inexperienced Berets and an Air Pressure fight controller died in a blast that struck a convoy of U.S. and Afghan forces in central Afghanistan. On Sunday, an Military infantryman died of his wounds from that very same explosion in a hospital in Germany.

Military Lt. Gen. Richard Clarke, the nominee for the SOCOM job, stated the Taliban have 60,000 fighters, a a lot greater quantity than has been estimated by the army up to now. Clarke initially had testified the Taliban was 20,000 robust and corrected himself throughout Tuesday’s listening to.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, informed an viewers final month throughout a safety convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that Afghanistan’s standing has not modified a lot from final yr, when it was at a “stalemate.” The considerations come greater than a yr into President Donald Trump’s new Afghanistan technique to spice up U.S. forces there.

“The stalemate is disappointing,” stated Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who was on the Halifax assembly.

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the nominee for the CENTCOM job, agreed Tuesday with Dunford’s consensus that Afghanistan stays at a stalemate, however contends new efforts at the moment are in play.

In response to Peters’ query, McKenzie famous he and his son, Kenneth Ray McKenzie, a Naval Academy graduate who served as a Marine Corps infantry officer and now works within the personal sector, each have been deployed twice to Afghanistan.

Senator, I perceive your frustration,” he stated. “We are doing things significantly different with the Afghan Security Forces. They are doing the fighting. Americans are still at risk and, as we saw tragically last week, Americans are still going to go into harm’s way and some of them may die. But we are no longer doing the fighting. They are doing the fighting. They are doing it imperfectly, but they are doing it with our assistance.”

McKenzie stated a political settlement that would entail peace talks with the Taliban is a key, new technique in Afghanistan. He additionally warned the U.S. shouldn’t withdraw from the nation precipitously — because it has achieved earlier than — as a result of the Afghan Safety Forces are usually not but capable of defend themselves. And it’s not clear when that may occur, both, McKenzie stated.

“I don’t know how long it will take,” he stated. “I do know that we’re working it very hard. I do know that they are making improvements. I do know that today it would be very difficult for them to survive without our and our coalition partners’ assistance. And we should remember that NATO and other nations are with us on the ground in Afghanistan.”

McKenzie, who would exchange departing Military Gen. Joseph Votel at CENTCOM, acknowledged the current deaths of a number of troopers in Afghanistan and the passing of Vice Adm. Scott Stearney, who was discovered lifeless in his quarters Saturday in Bahrain. No foul play is suspected within the dying of Stearney, who was commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the fifth Fleet.

“CENTCOM remains a dangerous, dangerous theater of war and we have seen the cost as recently as last week,” McKenzie stated. “I am certainly mindful of the burden we have borne in the past and unfortunately, we will continue to bear.”

SOCOM nominee Clarke echoed McKenzie’s remarks Tuesday, detailing the worldwide threats that stay a priority for the U.S. army. Clarke is slated to switch departing Military Gen. Raymond Thomas.

“Our world continues to evolve and increase in complexity while violent extremism persists, challenging regional stability and threatening our interests,” Clarke stated. This as “near-peer competitors grow in capability and intent to contest our vital national interests.”

Stars and Stripes reporters Corey Dickstein and Chad Garland contributed to this report.grisales.claudia

The Republican chairmen of the Home and Senate Armed Providers committees met with President Trump on Tuesday afternoon in an try and sway the commander in chief towards making dramatic cuts to the Protection finances.The assembly with Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) comes because the president has been weighing chopping $33 billion from the $733 billion sought by the Pentagon for the nationwide safety price range for 2020. Trump referred to as for a 5 % reduce from each company’s finances, together with the Division of Protection, earlier this yr.“I had a frank and productive conversation about our national security goals with the President. We share a commitment to undoing the damage left behind by President Obama and to rebuilding our military to achieve the National Defense Strategy,” Inhofe stated in a press release.“I am confident from the meeting that the President is determined to keep our nation strong and the military adequately funded. I look forward to continuing to work with President Trump and Vice President Pence to achieve these shared goals.”Protection hawks argue that a minimize to the protection price range after two years of will increase would reverse progress made to deal with a so-called readiness disaster.In an op-ed revealed by The Wall Road Journal final week, the chairmen argued decreasing funding would hinder Republican efforts to modernize and construct the army. The lawmakers stated that whereas there are locations the place cash might be saved, cuts to protection spending wouldn’t play a big position in closing the deficit and will put the nation’s security in danger.

“The participants reviewed the damage done to the military during the Obama Administration. President Trump has been keeping his promise to repair that damage and restore our strength,” a Home committee aide informed The Hill in a press release. “The participants believe we continue to make progress and are still on track to rebuild the military.”A supply acquainted with the assembly stated the president’s preliminary request of $733 billion is making the president’s push for cuts troublesome in the course of the negotiation course of.Protection Secretary James Mattis has additionally just lately argued towards cuts to the protection price range, equally arguing that it will not shut the deficit whereas hindering the army.“Cutting defense will not close the deficit, and I would suggest doing so would be disservice to troops and the American people they serve and protect, because we all know here today that America can afford survival,” he stated at this weekend’s Reagan Nationwide Protection Discussion board, the place he additionally recommended Inhofe and Thornberry’s op-ed.Whereas Thornberry was on the desk Tuesday, he’ll relinquish the Home Armed Providers gavel in January when Democrats take management of the chamber. His probably successor, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), has stated trimming the protection finances might be one among his priorities.